'Dio was a hunted man. You must have known he was in terrible danger.'
'Of course. That's why I kept a watchman posted inside the door every night. Even so, I never imagined that anyone would actually break into this house and commit such an atrocity. It seemed unthinkable.'
'Would you show me where this unthinkable thing occurred?'
Coponius led me down a long hallway to the back of the house. 'The watchman was posted in the foyer at the front of the house. When the assassins broke into Dio's room, he didn't hear it. I myself was sleeping in the room next door and heard nothing.'
'Did Dio cry out?'
'No one heard him if he did.'
'Would you have heard him?'
'I was sleeping, as I said, but I should think a scream would have awakened me. The walls aren't that thick. On other nights I was able to hear-well, never mind.'
'You were about to say something?'
'This is the room.' Coponius pushed opened a door and gestured for me to enter.
It was a small room, sparsely furnished with a sleeping couch, a chair, and a couple of small tables. A carpet covered the floor. Metal hooks were mounted in the walls for hanging clothing and lamps.
'How did the assassins get in?' I said.
'Through that window, by the couch. The shutters were drawn and latched, I'm sure. Dio would have seen to that, if only to shut out the cold. The latch has been repaired, but you can still see where the wood was splintered when the shutters were forced open.'
'Was the old latch made of bronze, like this one?'
'This is the very same latch, hammered straight by a smith and reattached in a different place.'
'This seems to be a rather strong latch. I should think that forcing it from the outside would have made some noise.'
'I suppose.'
'A considerable noise.'
'It couldn't have been that loud-'
'Perhaps not a loud enough noise to awaken you in the next room, or even to be heard by your watchman at the front door, but surely loud enough for Dio to hear if he was lying on this couch.'
'You might think so, yes. But as I told you, no one heard Dio cry out. I suppose he was a very sound sleeper. Or perhaps the breaking of the latch didn't make as much noise as you seem to think.'
'We could argue the point forever,' I said. 'Or shall we make an empirical test?'
'Do you mean-?'
'If you'll let me.'
Coponius shrugged.
'Go on.'
I unlatched the window and stepped through it, into the courtyard beyond, which was surrounded by a high wall. Inside the room, Coponius latched the shutters. I pushed on them, testing their strength, and realized it would take a considerable effort to force them open. I looked around and spotted a loose stone. Clutching it in my fist, I struck a hard blow against the shutters. With a sound of splintering wood the shutters flew open and the metal latch went flying across the room and landed on the carpet.
I climbed through the window. 'Tell me, was the broken latch found across the room like that, lying on the floor?'
'Why, yes. I'm sure of it. I remember, because when I came into this room I stepped on the latch and cut my bare foot.'
'Then we can assume that the shutters were forced open with at least as much force on that night, and must have made as much noise. I would say that was noisy enough to wake anyone in this room.'
'Yes,' Coponius agreed, fretfully tapping his forefinger against his
lips.
'And yet, Dio didn't cry out.'
'Perhaps he was awakened from a deep sleep, unable to comprehend. Or perhaps he comprehended only too well and was paralyzed with fright.'
'Perhaps. Was his throat cut?'
'No. All the wounds were in his chest.'
'How many wounds?'
'I'm not sure, exactly. Quite a few.'
'There must have been a great deal of blood.'
'Some blood, yes.'
'A struggling man, stabbed repeatedly in the chest-the room must have been covered with blood.'
Coponius wrinkled his brow. 'When we came in the room, it was very dark, of course. The slaves held lamps. Shadows swung all about. I remember seeing blood-I don't know how much. Does it matter?'
'Probably not. You don't still have the sleeping tunic Dio was wearing, or the cushions he was sleeping on?'
'Of course not. They were burned.'
I looked around the room, imagining Dio on the couch, silent, terrified, being stabbed repeatedly in the chest. Somehow the image did not make sense. 'Your watchman finally did hear something, and came to investigate.'
'Yes.'
'Would you let me speak to him?'
'Of course.' Coponius summoned the slave, a sturdy young Greek named Philo, who looked keen enough. I asked him exactly what he had heard on the night that Dio died.
'A noise, coming from this room.'
'What kind of noise?'
'A banging kind of noise.'
'Not a scream, or a moan?'
'No.'
'Splintering wood, cracked hinges?'
'No, more like something being knocked onto the floor.'
'When we came in,' Coponius interjected, 'everything was in disarray. The tables were upended, the chair on its side. The scrolls Dio kept by his bedside were scattered about.'
'When you heard the banging noise,' I said to Philo, 'how quickly did you come?'
'Right away. I heard more noises while I was running down the hallway.'
'How did you know where the noises were coming from?' 'As I got closer I could tell that they were coming from inside this room.'
'So you tried to open the door?' The slave hesitated. 'Not right away.'
'Because you were frightened?'
'No… '
'No? I would have been. It takes nerve to open a door with strange sounds coming from the other side, especially in the middle of the night.'
'I wasn't scared. Excited in a way, my heart beating fast, but not scared.'
'Then why didn't you try to open the door, Philo?' 'I called out Dio's name instead.' 'Did he answer?'
'No. There was another banging noise.' 'Then you tried the door?' 'Not right away… ' 'What were you waiting for?' 'For them to finish!' Philo said, exasperated.
'To finish killing Dio?'
'Of course not! For Dio to finish his business, if that's what he was up to.' The slave made a face and looked away. 'The master knows what I mean.'
I looked at Coponius, who looked back at me blandly and pursed his lips. 'Philo means that such noises could have meant something besides… danger.'
'Danger to Dio, anyway,' said Philo under his breath.
'That's enough, Philo,' said Coponius sharply. 'Get back to what-ever you were doing.'
